Apparatus-for charging portable fountains with carbonated beverages



(No Model.) 4 Sheets-Sheet 1. J. P. WITTEMANN. APPARATUS FOR CHARGINGPORTABLE FOUNTAINS WITH GARBONATBD BEVERAGES.

Patented Oct. 11, 1892.

lNVi'A/TOR:

4 N A M E T APPARA TUS FOR OHARGING PORTABLE POUNTAINS WITH CARBONATEDBEVERAGES.

'NO. 484,078. Patented 00 1892.

W/TNESSES I m/ VENTOH ATTORNEY T AKMM (No Model.) 4 sheets -sheet 3.

J. P. WITTEMANN. APPARATUS FOR CHARGING PORTABLE POUNTAINS WITHGARBONATED BEVERAGES.

No. 484,078. Patented Oct. 11, 1 2.

W/TNESSES ATTOHNE A (No Modl.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4. 1

J P. WITTEMANN. APPARATUS FOR'GHARGING PORTABLE FOUNTAINS WITHGARBONATBDBEVERAGES.

Patented Oct. 11, 1892.

ATTORNE ve se s1;

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JACOB F. \VITTElllANN, OF YONKERS, NEW YORK.

APPARATUS'FOR CHARGING PORTABLE FOUNTAINS WITH CARBONATED BEVERAGES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent NO. 484,078, dated October11, 1892. Bpplication filed February 10, 1891. Serial No. 381.007. (Numodel.)

To a53- whom it may concern:

13c known that 1, Jason F. i ITTEMANN, a citizen of the United vStates,and a resident of Yonkers, Vestchestcr county, State of New York, haveinvented certain new and useful lmg irovcincnts in Apparatus forCharging Portable Fountains with Carbonated BGVLT- ages, of which thefollowing isa specification.

This invention relates to an improved apparatus for charging portablefountains having but one valve with carbonated beverages, said apparatusbeing so constructed that the fountain is first charged withcarbonic-acid gas of a certain pressure and then with the arbonatedbeverage at a higher pressure, so thatthe gas in the fountain iscompressed by the liquid and the supply of the liquid automaticallydiscontinued when the fountain is charged with the required quantity ofcarbonated liquid.

The invention consists of an apparatus for charging portable fountainswith carbonated beverages in which the fountain supported on a balancedplatform and its valved inletpipe connected by a flexible pipe with aswitclrpipe and three valves, said valves being respectively connectedwith a carbonic- T apply pipe for charging the fountain gas under presure, for charging the \in with carbonated liquid under higher .re, andfor permitting the drawing off of the surplus gas from the fountain, soas to conduct the same to a suitable storage-tank.

The invention consists, further, in certain details of construction andcombination of parts, as will be fully described hereinafter, andiinally pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 rep resents a sectional sideelevation of my imcrov ed apparatus for charging portable fountains withcarbonated beverages. Fig. 2 is a side elevation, drawn on a largerscale, of the supportingstandard for the fountain-platform and thedifferent stop-cocks by which the fountain is connected, respectively,with the reservoir containing the carbonated beverage, with thegas-supply, andwith the tank to which the surplus gas is conducted offfrom the for. Fig. 2 is a detail vertical transthe valve for dischargingor shifting off the surplus gas in the founiiig. 3 is a front elevationof Fig. 2,

partly in vertical transverse section. at is a plan of Fig. Fig. 5 is adetail vertical transverse section of one of the valves en1- ployed forcharging carbonic-acid gas or car bonated liquid to the fountain; andFigs. 6 and 7 represent; respectively, a detail vertical central sectionand a horizontal section on the line 7 7, Fig. 6, of the spray-headthrough which the carbonated liquid is discharged in a spray into thereservoir from which the liquid is to be charged into the fountains.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, A represents a closed reservoir, which. issupplied with. car bonated liquid by a supply-pipe a, and which isprovided at the interior of the reservoir A with a spray-head l Thespray-head l; is formed of two semicylindrical sections 1) Z), which areprovided with a number of radial spray-channels b of conical shape, thattaper from their larger inner ends to their smaller outer ends, as shownclearly in Figs. (5 and 7. The sections of the perforated spray-head Bare connected by screw-caps b at their upper and lower ends, said capsengaging the extcriorly-threaded tubular ends 11 f thcsprayhead. Fromthe top part of: the spray-head extends in downward direction a conicaldeflector Z), that rests by its enlarged head 11 011 the upper end b ofthe spray-head, a id is firmly held in position by the top cap 1) of thesame, as shown in'Fig. G. The construction of the spray-head B of twosections facilitates the convenient cleaning of the same, as the partscan be readily taken apart by removing the screw-caps. A constant supplyof carbonated liquid under pressure is forced into the reservoir Aeither by a pump or by an ejector, so that theliquirl is delivered inathoronghlyanixed state into the reservoir A. The gas and liquid may,however, be separately supplied to the reservoir and mixed in the sameby the action of the spray-head B. A check-valve is preferably arrangedin the supply-pipe a, so as to retain the necessary pressure in thereservoir in case the fe .J. connection should get out of order.

The reservoir A is provided with a suitable gage a for indicating thelevel of the liquid in the same. The spray-head B is arranged above thelevel of the liquid in the upper pipe D, that is part of the reservoir,so as to produce the atomizing of the liquid in a fine spray into thecarbonic-acid gas contained in the space above the liquid. The conicaldeflector in the spray-head B serves to supply the liquid under pressureto the radial holes of the spray-head and to force the same throughallthe holes, so as to' produce a very effective spraying action in theliquid.

The upper part of the reservoir A, which is filled with'carbonic-acidgas under pressure, is connected by a pipe d-with a gas-supply providedwith a pressure-reducing valve D of anyapproved construction and at eachside of the same with a pressure-gage D that indicates the pressure ofthe gas respectively in the reservoir and in the supply-pipe D after thesame has passed through the pressure-reducing valve D. The outlet-pipe dis also connected by a second pipe D with the storage-tank'E for thesurplus carbonic-acid gas, the pipe D being provided with ablow-ofi-valve D, that ii is set to certain pressure and that blows ofl.

a certain quantity of gas whenever this pressure is reached. Thegas-supply pipe D is connected by a valve G with a switch-pipe G whichis again connected by a flexible pipe with the inlet-pipe of thefountain to be charged. From the bottom of the reservoir A extends asecond pipe f, which communicates, like the gas-supply pipe D, by a.valve G with the switch-pipe G". A third valve G, intermediately betweenthe valves G and G, connects the switch-pipe G? with the storage-tank E.The valves G and G, by which the carbonic-acid gas and the carbonatedliquid are respectively supplied to the "fountain, are shown in Fig. 5,and are arranged with springactuated spindles g andsnitable stufling-boxes g for the same. The outer ends of the spindles g. areprovided with rounded-off heads g that are engaged by a pivoted lever H,which carries a segmental cam k, that serves to engage either the headof the spindle of the valve G or the head of the spindle of the valve G,

according as the cam his placed above one spindle or the other, so as tosupply either carbonic-acid gas or carbonated liquid to the fountain, asrequired. A third valve G is also provided with a spring-actuatedspindle g, the head of which is arranged somewhat below the level of theheads of .the spindles g and g, and engaged only when a wedgeshapedslide-piece h, that is shown in Fig. 2 and which is guided at the underside of the lever H and operated by a, spring-actuated handle H is movedoutwardly by said handle, in which case the slide-piece engages therounded-off head 9 of the valve G and" presses the same in downwarddirection, so as to open the latter. The intermediate valve G isconnected at its lower part by a pipe D with the storage-tank E and actsas a so-called snifting-valve, by which the surplus gas'that iscompressed at the upper part of the fountain while it is charged isdrawn or snifted off into the storage-tank. The shifting-valve G isprovided at its lower part with an auxiliary-valve g and valveseat, saidvalve being spring-cushioned and serving to discharge the surplus gas inthe fountain only when the pressure of the same overcomes the tension ofthe cushioningspring g The fountain is supported on a suitable platformP, which is attached to the upper end of a spindle p, that is guided ina hollow standard P and supported on the end of a fulc'rumed balancing-lever L, having two weights w w, which are so adjusted that onebalances the weight of the empty fountain, while the other serves tobalance the weight of the carbonated liquid charged into the fountain,so that a uniform quantity of liquid is charged into each fountain. On abracket-support P at the lower part of the standard P are supported thecasings of the crank lever L so that the latter strikes against thelever H and moves the same off the spindle of the liquid-supply valve G,so as to close the latter and shut ofl of the supply of carbonatedliquid. This automatic shutting ofi of the liquid-supply valve G canalso be accomplished by diiferent mechanisms. The means for balancingthe fountain and automatically closing the supply-valve when therequired quantity of liquid is charged into the fountain are well knownand form no part of my invention The lever H- can 'also be operated byhand, as by little practice the fountain can be charged withthe requiredquantity of liquid, upon which the supplyvalve is closed.

The operation of charging the fountain is as follows: The fountain isplaced in position on the platform P and its inlet-pipe connected by theflexible pipe with the switch-pipe G The valve of the inlet-pipe of thefountain is placed inopen position. The gas-supply valve G is thenopened by placing the lever over the same and the fountain filled withcarbonic-acid gas. This gas is under lower pressure than the carbonatedliquid in the reservoir A. Consequently when the lever H is placed onthe supply-cock G, that is connected with the reservoir, the'carbonatedliquid is forcedinto the fountain against the pressure of thecarbonic-acid gas in the same,which is compressed until an equilibriumof pressure between it and the pressure of the carbonated liquid isestablished. This counterressure of the carbonic-acid gas in thefountain prevents in a reliable and effective manner the release of anycarbonic-acid gas that was in-- storage-tank E2 As soon as the shiftingoff of gas in the liquid. To produce the almost complete filling of thefountain with liquid, it is necessary to discharge the surplus q-uantity of gas in the upper part of the same, which is accomplished byopening the socalled snifting-valve G by which the surplus gas is drawnoff and conducted into the of the gas is accomplished the liquid-supplycock G is opened again and the space at the upper end of the fountainfilled with carbon- ,ated liquid that has lost but a small quantity ofthe gas with which it was impregnated during the carbonating processWhile it Was charged into the fountain. When the fountain is filled, thevalve of the inlet-pipe is closed,'tho flexible pipe which is connectedwith the stationary pipe (l disconnected, and the fountain removed.placed on the platform and filled in the same manner, and so on. As theshifting-valve G is constructed in a somewhat-different manner from thecharging-valves G G, the surplus gas in the upper part of the fountainis conducted off only when its spindle g is depressed and its main andauxiliary valves opened. The tension of the spring of the auxiliaryvalve g of the shifting-valve is so adjusted that the surplus gas in thefountain is only,discharged when it is at a higher pressure than thecounter-pressure of the valvespring. the valve closes and prevents thedischarge of-the gas to the storage-tank. The result is that thefountain is never entirely filled with carbonated liquid, but that asmall space is left in the same, in which carbonic-acid gas underpressure is retained, as it is not advisable to draw or snift elf allthe carbonic acid in the same.

The advantages of my improved apparatus are, first, that the fountainscan be charged through one valve-inlet opening with alarger quantity ofcarbonated liquid than hereto- 'fore; secondly, that the carbonic-acidgas incorporated into the liquid is retained by the same and very littleof the same liberated from the liquid during the charging process;thirdly, that a uniform quantity of carbonated liquid is supplied-to thefountains and the supply automatically interrupted when the determinedquantity is supplied to the fountain, and, fourth-1y, that by theadjustment of the weights on the balance-lever any size of fountain canbe readily charged with the required quantity of liquid.

Having thus described my invention, I claimas new and desire to secureby Letters Patent' 1. The combination, with a reservoir for carbonatedliquid, of a liquid-supply pipe terminating above the level of theliquid and a spray-head composed of longitudinal sections having radialspray-holes, substantially as 2. The combination, with a reservoir forcarbonated' liquid, of a liquid-supply pipe ter- The next fountain is.

As soon as the pressure is lowered minating above the level of theliquid and a spray-head composed of longitudinalsections havingradialspray-holes, said holes being conieally tapered from their inner totheir outer ends, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with a reservoir for carbonated liquid, of asupply-pipe, a spray-head having a central conduit and. radial taperingholes" extending outward therefrom, and a tapering plug extending intosaid conduit opposite said holes.

4. The combination, with a reservoir for carbonated liquid, of asupply-pipe, a spray-head for supplying carbonated liquid, composed ofsections having radial and comically-taperingholes, a tapering plugextending into the spray-head, a threaded collar engaging one end of thesections, and a screw-cap engaging the other end of the sections,substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of a reservoir containing carbonated liquid, aswitch-pipe adapted to be connected to the fountain to be charged, agas-supply pipe connected with the upper part of the reservoir, a valveconnecting said gas-supply pipe with said switch-pipe, a liquid-supplypipe connected to thelower part of the reservoir, a valve connectingsaid liquid supply pipe with said switch-pipe, a storagetank, asnil'ting-pipe connected to the storage-tanlgand. a velveeennecting saidsnifting-pipe with the switch-pipe, substantially as described.

6. The combination of a reservoir containing carbonated liquid, aswitch-pipe adapted to be connected to the fountain to be charged, agas-supply pipe connected with the upper part. of the reservoir, a valveconnecting'said gas-supply pipe with said switch-pipe, a liquid-supplypipe connected to t e lower part to be connected with the fountain to befilled,

a gas-supply valve, aliquid-supply valve, and a snifting-valve connectedto said switchpipe, and pipes connecting said valves with the upper andlower part of the reservoirand with a storage-tank, respectively, saidvalves being provided with spring-actuated spindles, and a pivoted leverhaving cams for actuating either one of the-valves, substantially as setforth. v

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I have signed myname in pres ence of two subscribing witnesses.

JACOB F. WITTEMANN." Witnesses:

PAUL Ge-semi, CHARLES SoHRoEDER.

